After opening the season with a 24-21 win against Wake Forest Saturday afternoon,the Baylor football team will enjoy a bye week this coming Saturday before hosting UConn Sept. 19 for the Bears' home opener.

Here are head coach Art Briles' thoughts on the Bears' win over Wake Forest and the Sept. 19 matchup against UConn:

On Saturday's win:
"We knew it would be a tough game and a fight all the way to the end. We wanted to come out of the gate and be good early, and we were on both sides of the ball. Then we were able to hang on at the end."

On winning a close game against a strong opponent:
"We certainly went up there expecting to win. That's why you play the game. I think what it did was give us a lot more confidence. We went through some tough games a year ago where we got close, but didn't finish and things didn't come out in our favor. Yesterday we fought through and persevered. It was a huge win for us program-wise and gives us a little momentum going into the UConn game."

On the play of Baylor's defense Saturday against Wake Forest:
"I really think we won the game at the line of scrimmage without a doubt. I thought we were more physical up front and our strength prevailed. We dominated up front defensively and that's how you win football games. That was the difference yesterday."

On winning and gaining respect:
"I think without a doubt people are saying, `Hey, that's a good win for Baylor.'" Anytime you can go out and beat an ACC opponent on its home field, it's a good win. Our script is not written yet. We've got 11 games in front of us and that'll determine how the season goes."

On playing with a lead:
"The difference between yesterday and last year was that last year we were trying to come back and win. With yesterday, Wake Forest is trying to come back at the end and pull out a victory. Our thing this year has been let's win early and then try to hang on late. Let's get some good things done early and then if we have to fight and hang on in the end, we can do that because it's a lot easier playing with a lead than coming back from behind."

On having two weeks to prepare for UConn:
"We understand that we still have a long way to go, long way to grow. We've now got a chance to correct some things and move forward at a little more normal pace than if we were playing this week. Our goal during fall camp was to peak on Sept. 5 and we then knew we'd have a week we could settle down and then rise up again."